pleased precariously

Wednesday I rode up Conzelman road, down the back side, then back up McCullough. Pretty hard ride, with I think McCullough being a bit harder overall than Conzelman (Conzelman has that steep section at the bottom but other than that it’s a pretty easy grind). ~2900 feet total climbing there and back.

Thursday I did an easy 11 mile ride out to the beach and back. Legs felt a lot better afterward. Tired, but no longer stiff and sore. Recovery rides really do work.

Friday Alex and I decided to tackle something a little harder. Routes I’d found on the web made me think we’d see about 60 miles, with about 5000 feet total climbing. My biggest climbing day by far.

Mount Tam might be the smallest/easiest of the three bay area peaks but it was a pretty grueling day all the same. It took us 3 hours from my house to reach the summit, with probably over half that time spend climbing. It only took us 1:45 to get back home - fast fast descents. We had only one minor misstep, missing the turn onto Sycamore from the bike path in marin. Everything else about the route was pretty trivial. Looked at the cue sheet once, I think.

The scenery on the way up was amazing, absolutely stunning. The last four miles of the ascent were on a closed road, with no cars allowed due to fire danger. We only saw three people during those last miles, all in the parking lot of the east peak while we rested and took in the amazing view. All on mountain bikes. All with those damnable lower gears. The descent was equally stunning, more for how quickly it went, and how often I found myself smiling with cracked, chapped lips. The climb out of Sausalito to the bridge felt like a little bump after all the other climbing, and I found I still had enough in me to really fly down Lincoln over to 25th ave. Home followed by a quick shower and a huge meal at Chow, with bed following shortly after.

The estimates ended up right on the money, 57 miles, 5090 feet climbed. A big day.

And now it’s time for another easy ride.

ritual’s coffee kicked my ass yesterday.

Flew in Sunday morning on a relatively early 8am EST flight, after sleeping maybe an hour. Had fun fitting my bike into the trunk of the taxi on the way to the airport. Had even more fun taking the taxi from oakland to sfo. I gave the poor cabbie a healthy tip, considering he was basically screwed for driving back out to oakland (the bay bridge was closed to east bound traffic all weekend.)

Put the bike back together, met some friends for brunch at Chow, got veggie tacos from the taqueria I frequented when I lived in the Duboce triangle. In many ways I fell right back into the routine of my old life here.

Yesterday a bike ride with Alex, took the usual route out to ocean beach then north up the hill past the Cliff House and then up Seal Rock drive. Then Lincoln Blvd to the Golden Gate. I felt pretty much cooked just from that part of the ride, and crossing the bridge was even worse, with a pretty steady and rather cold crosswind. The warm Boston summer has made me soft. Once we got across the bridge the temperature was more to my liking, and by the time we got to the top of the headlands climb I was feeling unexpectedly strong. We ended up riding back down the hill and out through Sausalito before heading home. All told, probably 4 times the usual amount of climbing I do on a ride. I’m glad I didn’t switch to a double chainring.

Now it’s time to wake up properly and head out to Ritual or someplace else to get some work done. Where have all the slackers who would hang out with me at a coffee shop (and “work” while I work) gone?